“I tried to remember any case in the course of my reading where two women are represented as friends.” -Virginia Woolf There’s a hoary old cliché about male nerds that they’re perennially afraid of women, clamming up whenever one begins to talk, scoffing through their retainer at the thought of one intellectually matching them on […] More »

By the time Friday rolled around last week there was a veritable anthology of jokes to which “David Gilmour” was the punch line. The paper-bag jowls and complacent half-smile of his face pasted on News Feeds and blogs like an advert for a public flogging. Everywhere that CanLit went, so too went the name David […] More »

Gold headband and matching bracelets. Go Go boots, booty shorts and a baby tee. A raven haired badass wearing shades and driving an invisible car (goodbye invisible jet) to track down the bad guy. This was the latest Wonder Woman appearance, aired on the Cartoon Network July 13 in an animated short. Her first appearance was in […] More »

Transgender performance artists Lexi Sanfino and Nina Arsenault were arrested after a WestJet flight June 20. Sanfino caused a disturbance, strutting down the airplane aisle topless after a flight attendant rudely asked the friends for makeup tips: “You know, because you used to be guys, right?” according to the Toronto Star, though the Huffington Post […] More »

John Koerner is 100 years old and still making art. Really. If you haven’t heard of Koerner—a Vancouver-based modernist painter who basically kick-started said movement in Canada—or seen his work, you’re missing out. Lucky for you, he’s having a birthday party on June 9 in Burnaby, B.C., where you can hear him speak and see his work. […] More »

When was the last time you climbed on a swing? Not the publicly funded, safe helicopter-parental playground kind, but a backyard homemade one, constructed with palm-scratching ropes and a shaky wooden board that threatens to cause a splinter, or worse. I had forgotten the sensory thrill of the swing until Christmas, when I experienced Ann […] More »

If you spend time in any of the Maritime arts communities, chances are you’ll meet a back-to-the-lander. In the early 1970s, many artists, hippies and draft dodgers left the comforts of urban life to head east in search of fresh air and cheap land. I’ve heard amazing stories of long-haired painters trying to fit into […] More »

Going through Toronto’s Nuit Blanche website is somewhat akin to the childhood experience of maniacally ripping through Sears’ Holiday Wish Book. After cutting out photos of every game, stuffed animal, and doll came the harsh realization that there was no way anyone, Santa or not, was going to indulge that kind of greed. So, I’d […] More »

Last Sunday I swung by Fire on the Water – named for a time when old boats were lit ablaze and set out to sea for entertainment – a day of art installations, music and dancing at Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion in west-end Toronto. Built in 1922 as changing facilities for the local beach and swimming […] More »

Last night’s packed-out reception for Lisa Myers and Autumn Chacon’s Toronto Now exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario took on the air of a kitchen party, thanks to the chef’s table in the middle of room, covered in utensils and bowls of produce. But once the two artists started cooking, the chatter turned quiet […] More »

Leslie Vryenhoek is a writer, poet and communication consultant based out of Newfoundland. Her work has appeared in various Canadian and international publications. Leslie has received numerous awards for her poetry, fiction and memoirs including the Winston-Collins Descant Best Canadian Poem 2010 prize, two provincial Arts and Letters Awards, the Eden Mills Festival Literary Competition and the Dalton […] More »